Chapter Summary: The students make a trip down to the USJ.

Shota wasn't a fan of field trips. Back when he was a student at U.A., he and his peers had gone on a litany of trips to different facilities to test out their Quirks and train to better their skills for hero work. To him, it seemed like a whole lot of work that could easily be done on-campus with its many facilities and training grounds, but he supposed he was the only student in that school of thought. One of the things he looked forward to after graduation was knowing that he wouldn't have to go on another one again, only for him to wind up at U.A. and enter the cycle anew. However, it was very, very different to be an adult acting as a chaperone on a field trip, and nowhere was that made more apparent than when he sat with Yagi for the trip. As the students talked amongst themselves, his associate remained quiet and occasionally glanced away to check on the students, his hands clasped in front of him nervously.

'Not much of a talker, is he?' Shota observed to himself. 'Wonder why he became a teacher of all things…'

Still, he didn't feel quite so comfortable striking up a conversation to find out, so he merely sat and stared ahead. He barely registered the voices of the class during the bus ride aside from the occasional rise in volume that would prompt him to spare a glance around the bus, only for the sound to die down just as quickly. It was the same usual noise that made being a teacher unbearable at times and he could already tell just from the trip that he was going to need a long nap to counteract the exhaustion he was going to feel. Had the press not pulled that stunt and infiltrated campus grounds due to some unknown assailant, he would have been sound asleep in the teacher's lounge while his class was out.

'I'll just have to hope I catch some rest on the way there,' he thought. Shota closed his eyes with a ragged sigh. 'So long as nothing bothers me, that is.'

"How's young Bakugou been today?" Yagi asked suddenly, causing Shota's shoulders to tense up.

Shota didn't even open his eyes. "What?"

"Well, its just…" Yagi continued, bit quieter that time. "Has he been acting strange to you?"

Shota huffed quietly. "Considering it's only his third day, I can't say for certain if I'm a good judge of what's 'strange' for him." His eyes fell shut. "He might just not be a talker."

"I… suppose I can understand that," Yagi relented. Shota heard the bus seat squeak while Yagi adjusted himself. "I guess I'm just worried that what I said to him yesterday made him upset… He seemed downtrodden and didn't say much back in class. Perhaps I was too hard on him."

"'Hard on him'?" Shota repeated. He regarded him tiredly from the corner of his eye. "What'd you say to him?"

Yagi's shoulders slumped with a sigh. "You went over the footage… You saw how he was during that exercise."

Shota frowned. He had gone over the footage and knew exactly what Yagi was referring to. Initially, he thought that Bakugou's behavior was a result of him leaning into the villain role, but upon hearing his threats towards the hero team — Midoriya in particular, it seemed — it became clear that there was something clearly amiss between them. However, when he went to Nedzu about it, the principal merely waved him off and told him that it was "handled." Exhausted by the day's events, Shota took his superior's word for it and went to take a nap in the teacher's lounge.

"I'm guessing you had some words for him?" Shota assumed aloud.

"I did," Yagi told him, "I also talked with Principal Nedzu and young Midoriya about it to get a better sense of the situation." His lips drew into a thin line. "Young Midoriya assured me that whatever personal issues they had weren't as bad as we assumed, but it was still concerning to see. When I tried to speak to young Bakugou about it, however…"

"He didn't take it well?" Shota guessed.

Yagi nodded. "He seemed a bit… emotional about his loss yesterday afternoon. I assured him that he'll have plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the future and that losing is a part of learning, but I'm not sure how willing he was to truly hear that." His hands clasped together nervously. "I hope I didn't make a mistake during our talk."

"You can't control how people take what you say," Shota replied bluntly, causing Yagi to blink, "no matter how kind you are, there will always be someone who will fail to see the good in it. It's impossible to please everyone." He let out a weak snort. "You can't expect to win everyone over like All Might can."

It was a half-hearted joke, one that only he might find funny, but he could hardly find it in him to care. Almost everyone he spoke to seemed to have an admiration for All Might and the rest were villains who opposed his ideals. Quite frankly, Shota didn't see the appeal; he was far too boisterous and loud for his liking. While he may not know All Might personally, he knew enough to decide that the two of them simply wouldn't get along under any circumstances.

A small, raspy laugh broke Shota out of his thoughts and he blinked when he saw Yagi trying to stifle his laughter with his hand. Yagi coughed into his fist and then hit his chest to get the rest out of him with a weak wheeze, his lips still pulled up in a strained smile while he recovered. After a beat, he straightened up and faced Shota with another chuckle.

"Ha," Yagi punctuated, still smiling a bit, "I suppose you're right. Not everyone is as grandiose as he is, are they?"

"That's… one way of putting it," Shota affirmed. Upon remembering the Symbol of Peace's beaming smile, he let out a ragged sigh. "He's a bit…"

"Overzealous?" Yagi finished. When Shota blinke, he chuckled. "You said that the other day. I believe you also said he's idealistic."

Shota vaguely remembered saying something like that. It sounded like something he would say, so he didn't argue against it.

"He's a fine hero," Shota stated, "I won't disparage the work he's done for our society." The corners of his lips threatened to tug into a frown. "But he acts like he's invincible and in turn, it creates a false sense of what being a hero is. This job is a dangerous one and shouldn't be treated the same as being a celebrity. A lot of kids I've taught have learned that the hard way."

Yagi's smile faded. "Is that why you were so hard on young Midoriya?"

Shota huffed out a sigh through his nose. "He's got spirit… and I will say, I am impressed with how he handled things during the exercise yesterday. He didn't even break his bones that time." Then, he frowned. "But one good exercise doesn't prove he's suddenly in control of everything. He still flubbed it at the exam and came dead last in the assessment. The only reason he even made it in is because he destroyed his body." Shota closed his eyes with another sigh and leaned back. "If that's how well he's managed to control his Quirk since it manifested, then there's not much I can do to help him."

"Well, that's not very fair," Yagi replied, "he only had a couple of months to train with it before the exam."

Shota's eyes snapped all the way open. "What?"

"His Quirk," Yagi repeated. When Shota slowly turned to face him, Yagi's brows furrowed. "It… didn't manifest until a couple months before the exam."

"It what ," Shota stressed. It was less of a question than it was a statement of shock. He straightened up in his seat and stared at Yagi. "How do you know that?"

Yagi arched a brow. "It's in his file."

"It's what ," Shota said again, unable to contain his surprise. He replayed Yagi's words over and over again, trying to make sense of them. "I… His Quirk…" Shota sat up as straight as a board. "He's a late-bloomer? "

Yagi stared at him. "You didn't know."

Shota did, in fact, not know. He typically didn't make it a habit to go digging for his student's files unless something came up in a lesson and considering what he saw at the exam, he felt it would be a waste of time to bother trying to find something in Midoriya. However, now that he knew that he only had his Quirk for a few months…

"God, no wonder his body can't handle it," Shota realized, "it's not used to it." Such a power in a body that wasn't used to housing a Quirk was akin to putting a tiger in a cardboard box and hoping for the best. How on Earth had the kid not killed himself? Then, he closed his eyes tiredly. "But be that as it may, he should have known better than to try out with so little practice. He could have—" The words "hurt himself" almost slipped out before he remembered that was already written in stone. "God, why on earth would he do that?"

Yagi shifted uncomfortably. "W-Well, I'm sure that—"

"Whoa, are we here? " exclaimed Kaminari from behind them both. He sat up and nearly fell over before catching himself by grabbing onto one of the safety rails. "That place looks huge! "

" Kaminari , sit back down!" Iida ordered, reaching over to pull him back down by the belt. "You'll fall over and hurt yourself!"

Shota let out a sigh and grabbed the railing to stand up. "Simmer down everyone. We're about to pull in."

Some of the class had the grace to look embarrassed when they turned to face him. "Yes, sir."

With a quiet huff, Shota turned back to the front and sat back down. "Let's just hope the press didn't come down here…"

"You give them too much credit," Yagi told him. He held up his bicep and flexed it, which showed barely, if any, change in size. "You forget they're the same people who confused me for All Might. "

Shota snorted. "Reporters… I'm convinced they share a single mind."

"Or brain cell ," Yagi commented.

Another snort escaped Shota and he almost clapped his hand over his face for it. He blinked in surprise at himself and turned back to Yagi, who merely smiled at him.

"Was that a smile?" Yagi asked.

Shota met his gaze a bit too seriously. "No."

Yagi chuckled. "Alright, if you say so…"

When the bus finally came to a stop, Shota waited for Yagi to step out into the aisle before following suit. The class clamored excitedly as he and his associate took the lead off the bus and Shota breathed out a sigh of relief upon getting a breath of fresh air. He may have been a homebody by nature, but it was still nice to get out of a cramped space with a bunch of teenagers.

'Let's just hope today goes alright,' Shota thought as he stepped off the bus, 'otherwise, I'm gonna sleep like the dead when the day is over.'

When Toshinori first heard that one of his associates was making a facility to train future heroes for search and rescue all those years ago, he was nothing short of delighted to hear the news, especially when he heard it was being spearheaded by someone he worked with personally. While U.A. was always ahead of the curve on ways to help their student body improve and reach their potential, Toshinori had to admit that he was a bit jealous that he couldn't experience the U.S.J. as a student himself. He supposed he should be thankful he got to come now, albeit as a teacher.

"Make sure you have all your things and let's head inside," Aizawa told everyone as they trailed out behind him, "if you realize you forgot something once you were inside, then tough luck."

Despite his associate's tone, Toshinori offered the students a smile. "But first, it's about high time we introduce you to the faculty member that will be helping us in today's simulation."

The class all exchanged looks that spanned from quizzical to excited as they gathered their things and made their way off the bus. It seemed that Thirteen was just as excited to start the exercise as the students were, her unmistakable silhouette landing within Toshinori's sights the moment he drew closer to the entrance. As the Rescue Training Specialist at U.A., Toshinori knew that if he were going to be a part of a lesson revolving around rescue, there was no one better suited to aid him than them. He witnessed her heroic debut firsthand in Japan when she was still in her early twenties and was left absolutely speechless when he witnessed her use her Quirk to put an end to a catastrophe.

Thirteen waved a gloved hand. "Hello, everyone! I've been waiting for you!"

"Hello!" Toshinori greeted, waving back excitedly. How long had it been? A couple years? It was so hard for him to tell sometimes. "It's nice to see you again!"

Thirteen paused in her wave and tilted her head. "Oh, you must be Yagi! I didn't realize we already met."

Toshinori's fingers curled subconsciously and his hand withdrew to his chest. 'Right… she doesn't know who I am, does she?'

"It's the Space Hero, Thirteen!" Midoriya exclaimed excitedly, breaking through the awkward air. He bounced on his heels with sparkling eyes. "The chivalrous Pro who's rescued a ton of people from disasters across the world!"

Uraraka let out a cheer. "Thirteen is one of my favorite heroes!"

Straightening up a bit, Toshinori found it in him to smile. Just because he couldn't speak to Thirteen as a fellow Pro didn't mean that the exercise still wouldn't be fun. The rescue training was sure to be an excellent way for both the winners and losers of the prior day's exercise to try to apply what they learned in a new setting and allow them to get a fresh start if their results hadn't been favorable before. His eyes briefly flickered back to Bakugou, who hung at the back of the group.

'I'm sure young Bakugou will appreciate the chance to show his stuff,' he mused, 'he said himself he wasn't ready to give up.' He turned back to the front. 'Let's see how much he means that.'

Thirteen gestured to the door. "Welcome! I can't wait to show you all what's inside!"

The students all let out shouts of joy and clamored with one another, which only made Toshinori's smile grow. He would dare to say he was just as, if not more excited than they were to see what the rescue simulation had to offer and it only grew with each step he took. Thirteen held the door open for the class and Toshinori gave her a nod as a silent thanks while he stepped inside. Then, as he stepped aside to let the rest of the class file in, his eyes widened to the size of saucers as he took in the full sight of the facility and its contents. Connecting from the central plaze, Toshinori could see peeks from different sections, his gaze darting to and fro in an attempt to see them all at once.

"Holy crap! " Kirishima blurted out. Were Toshinori not so awestruck, he might have reprimanded him for the language, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. "It's like an indoor amusement park!"

Thirteen nodded. "A shipwreck… A landslide… A fire… A windstorm… You name it." Her arms spread out to gesture to all the sections at once. "I created this facility in order to train future heroes to deal with different types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!" She pointed to the class excitedly. "But you can call it the U.S.J.!"

Toshinori clasped his hands in front of him. "What a grand facility! I've heard amazing things, but I've never seen it for myself." He tapped his fingers a bit shyly. "What kind of decisions went into making a place like this? I imagine it was very intensive."

"It was," Thirteen affirmed, nodding, "it took a lot of work to design this place in order to do what I wanted. I worked with specialists to see how we can simulate disasters and how to best maximize the space." She clapped her hands. "I was so excited the day that we finally opened this place up!"

Toshinori's smile weakened a bit. With how busy he was as the Symbol of Peace, he never quite had the time to pioneer a project quite like this. Still, it wasn't as though he had any grand ideas like Thirteen's so perhaps it was for the best that he didn't have the time.

"Time's ticking," Aizawa interjected, causing Toshinori to blink, "we should get started."

"Excellent!" Thirteen replied. She straightened up and cleared her throat. "But before we begin, I would like to say something to you all… Or, well, two things. Maybe three. Or four, or five—"

As the students groused, Toshinori smiled sympathetically. 'I guess I should feel glad I'm not the only one who struggles with public speaking.'

"Listen carefully," Thirteen continued, "I'm sure you're aware I have a powerful Quirk. It's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it to dust."

"Yeah, you've used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters, haven't you?" Midoriya chimed in.

Thirteen nodded sagely. "That's true… But my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill."

An unexpected hush fell over the class and Toshinori himself could feel the tension rise. He turned to face Thirteen and gone was her cheerful energy, replaced instead by a serious and even demeanor. Thirteen gestured to the now silenced class.

"Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous," Thirteen went on, "in our superhuman society, all Quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook just how dangerous they can be." Toshinori's fist subconsciously clenched as she spoke. "Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you're trying to do something as virtuous as rescuing someone."

Toshinori's lips drew into a thin line. He knew that very well; One For All may have dimmed in flame, but even so, he had to be mindful of how he used it. If he were to stay at 100% at all times, he could wreak havoc on his surroundings. His eyes trailed over to his young protege, whose power had the potential to far exceed his, and his fist only grew tighter.

"This job is a dangerous one and shouldn't be treated the same as being a celebrity," Aizawa's voice echoed in his head, "a lot of kids I've taught have learned that the hard way."

"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your Quirks' potential," Thirteen said, gesturing to Aizawa briefly. Then, she gestured to Toshinori, causing him to straighten up quickly. "And because of Sensei Yagi's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people." She brought both hands forward and clasped them together. "Carry both of those lessons to this class. Today, you're going to learn how to use your Quirks to save peoples' lives. You won't be using your powers to attack or each other, only to help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about: ensuring the safety of others."

Toshinori's gaze found Bakugou amongst the crowd and there, their eyes met. The boy's expression was unreadable, but his eyes betrayed a maelstrom of emotions that nearly made Toshinori look away. Within it, Toshinori saw the same determination and heat as the afternoon prior, brewing into something far more intense.

"That's all I have to say," Thirteen concluded with a bow, "thank you so much for listening."

The class let out loud cheers, but Bakugou didn't break his stare. Toshinori brought himself to look away in order to regard Thirteen and clapped along with the rest of the class.

"Right," Aizawa announced, gaining everyone's attention, "now that that's over…"

As if on cue, the lights in the immediate area began to dim. Toshinori blinked and turned to watch as each of the lights crackled and slowly powered down. Was this a part of a performance? Was Thirteen trying to immerse the class into the training by setting the tone?

Then, a chill ran up Toshinori's spine and he went still with unmistakable dread. His hand clenched as he whipped around to face the central plaza and his eyes widened upon spotting a strange, violet energy around the fountain. In a flash, it expanded into an unidentifiable shape, filling the air with an awful sound. Toshinori wanted to turn to see if Aizawa was reacting poorly as he was, but he couldn't move.

'This energy…' Toshinori thought, his nails digging into his palms, 'where have I…?'

"Stay together and don't move!" Aizawa ordered suddenly, breaking Toshinori out of his trance. His associate readied his stance and held an arm out to block anyone from running in front of him. "Thirteen, Yagi! Protect the students!"

Amongst the startled gasps, Kirishima's voice rang out. "Whoa, what is that thing?"

Then, as if Toshinori's terror couldn't grow, more and more figures stepped out from the mist. His eyes widened and he stared, his fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt. It wasn't until he felt a surge of pain through his torso that he realized he was clutching his injury.

"Stay back!" Aizawa shouted. Toshinori turned in time to see him slip his goggles over his eyes. "This is real . Those are villains ."

Villains. That word rarely did much to strike fear into Toshinori's heart, but as he watched more and more unknown figures slip out of that god-awful mist, he could only find himself able to clutch his injured side for dear life. This wasn't right , this wasn't how it was supposed to go .

"Were you the ones who broke into the school?" Toshinori accused before he could think. He stepped forward, but didn't let go of his side. "Did one of you let the press in so you could break in and find out where we'd be?!"

To Toshinori's horror, the mist flickered and from it, came a voice. "How strange… the schedule we retrieved from U.A. said that only Thirteen and another staff member would be here… But it seems we've got another Pro here, as well."

"Eraserhead," said the first figure who emerged. Judging from how he stood and watched, Toshinori guessed he must have been one of the main orchestrators. He was covered in hands all over his body, the sight of which just made Toshinori's skin crawl . "Well, well… I guess we made an impact during our little excursion to U.A."

Toshinori's grip tightened. "You little—"

"Yagi," Aizawa cut in sharply, "stay back here. Keep the students safe."

"What?" Toshinori barked back. His eyes trailed over to the dozens upon dozens of villains who continued to walk out of the mist. "Aizawa, you aren't seriously considering fighting them alone."

Aizawa grimaced. "Even if you help, we'd be overwhelmed in the long run. Focus on getting the kids out and call for back-up." He turned back to face the ever-growing threat. "They don't need to be here for this."

The prideful part of Toshinori wanted to argue, but the words died in his throat when he heard a whimper behind him. Upon facing the class, his fire simmered down when he saw the unrestrained fear that painted each and every single one of their faces. His lips drew into a thin line when his eyes landed on Midoriya, whose eyes had widened to the size of saucers.

'No,' he thought, watching as his protege's hands shook, 'no, please… he's not ready for this, not now.' Toshinori's heart leaped into his throat when he saw each of the students step back. 'None of them are… they're just children .'

"Such a shame ," taunted the ringleader, "when I found out all those rumors that he was teaching at U.A. were just lies, I was so disappointed… And to think, I went through all the trouble of inviting all my friends down just to meet him." He held his hands out and gestured to the growing crowd of villains. "They want All Might… The Symbol of Peace . I suppose he's too prideful to teach the next generation of coming heroes."

'They came here for me,' Toshinori realized, his eyes widening, 'they're all down here because of me .' He looked down at himself and grit his teeth. 'But we were so careful .'

How did something like this happen? Surely the USJ was secure. Then, it dawned on Toshinori. Why weren't any of the alarms going off? Were they silent so as to not alert intruders?

A weak, scratchy laugh brought Toshinori's attention back to the central plaza. "Maybe if I kill a few kids, he'll come out to play."

One For All threatened to burn its way through his muscles, but Toshinori held the flames at bay. He couldn't transform, not now , not when there were so many eyes on him. He had to get his kids out before it was too late.

"We have to leave ," Toshinori growled. He turned to Thirteen. "Why aren't any of the alarms going off?"

Thirteen's mask hid her emotions. "I have no clue. They should have gone off the moment they touched ground in here."

"Is this the only place under attack?" questioned Todoroki. "Or is the campus also under siege?" His expression grew grave. "Either way, it must be one of the villain's Quirks whose masking their presence here… They planned this meticulously to ensure whoever was here would be isolated from the rest of the school and the Pros on-campus."

"We can troubleshoot the how and the why later," Toshinori snapped. He wrenched his hand free from his shirt and turned to the rest of the students. "We have to clear out now and alert the main campus and the authorities of what's happening here." He searched the crowd until he spotted Kaminari. "Young Kaminari, try to use your Quirk to contact the school in case they're jamming our communications."

Initially startled, Kaminari quickly nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Are you crazy? " Midoriya shouted. "Sensei Aizawa can't fight them all alone! There's way too many of them." He started fidgeting with his hands. "Even if he can nullify their Quirks, his fighting style's not suited for this! He works best in stealth and one-on-one fights!"

Before Toshinori could try to reassure him, he heard Aizawa chuckle from behind him. "Can't be a Pro if you only have one trick."

In a blink, Toshinori watched as Aizawa leaped from the top of the stairs down into the fray of villains. His eyes widened as the first wave made a beeline straight for him and horror gripped his heart.

"Aizawa!" he exclaimed, only to be pulled back by Thirteen. By God, did he really expect to fight everyone at once by himself? How long would he hold out? His mind flipped back to Midoriya's analysis and he clenched his fists. "God, how is he going to—"

His fears were left unrealized, however, as he watched his long scarf extend beyond his body. Within a matter of moments, the tendrils wrapped around a trio of villains and brought their heads together unceremoniously, eliciting screams and groans of pain before they were dropped to the ground in a pile. Without missing a beat, Aizawa set his sights on another villain and made a running start.

'Holy shit,' Toshinori thought, unable to break his stare for a moment, 'I've heard things about his fighting, but I've never seen it up-close.'

The two of them came from different worlds; the mainstream world of heroes and the underground circuit. Toshinori heard talk of Eraserhead mastering a style of fighting using a capture weapon, but it never occurred to him that it would be something as mundane as an accessory. Was that to make him seem unassuming? What kind of material was it made from?

"Bet you can't erase the Quirk of a hetero-morphic type like me, can you?!" shouted a four-armed villain.

"Yeah, you're right," Aizawa replied dryly. Then, he delivered a punch that sent his opponent flying away from him. Just before he got too far away, however, he shot his capture weapon out and latched it onto the villain's ankle, dragging him back towards him. "But a villain like you is only dangerous if you get close to me!"

To punctuate his point, he ducked backward to avoid another villain and landed a kick that sent him reeling back into another set of villains. As the group fell onto their backs, Aizawa pulled his captured prey down onto them in a vicious slam.

"Good thing ," Aizawa proclaimed, "I've taken measures to ensure that never happens." He straightened up and faced the crowd, who paused to regard him with equal parts terror and fury. "Now which one of you gutter punks is next? "

"This is no time to be analyzing!" shouted Iida, breaking Toshinori out of his stare. He turned to see the rest of the class making their way back to the entrance while he and Midoriya hung back. "We have to go!"

With one final look out to his comrade, Toshinori turned on heel and joined Midoriya to run with the others. He laid a hand on his back to push him forward, ignoring the burn in his destroyed lungs. Iron threatened to make its way up his throat, but he forced it down, not wanting to stop for fear of slowing everyone down.

'Is ths all I can do right now?' Toshinori thought. 'Can all I do is run away?'

Beneath his clothes lied his hero suit, made with material to stretch to his form. It was an investment Nedzu suggested for days he needed to run out and handle an emergency, and he was thankful he made it. He underestimated just how soon he would need it.

'Maybe I can slip away,' he concluded, continuing to run, 'once they're all out, I can make an excuse and run back inside to—'

Then, as the group made its way to the front, purple mist erupted from the ground and blocked their way. Toshinori gasped aloud and subconsciously gripped Midoriya's shoulder to pull him back, his eyes wide with terror as yellow light surged from the purple mist like a cat's eyes in the dark. Was his Quirk warping? Was that how he got here so quickly?

"It's a pleasure to meet you," greeted the mist, its voice a blend of echoes and a strange energy that Toshinori couldn't identify, "we are the League of Villains. I know its impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves in to this haven of justice to say hello ."

A growl escaped Toshinori. "You infiltrated U.A. in order to make sure you could isolate us here. What are you hoping to gain from this?" He pulled Midoriya behind him, shielding him from the villain's view. "Are you hoping to get publicity for your little cult? "

The mist let out a dark chuckle. "Oh, I assure you, we have far grander plans in mind… After all, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his final breath?"

Midoriya let out a gasp behind Toshinori, which only added to the fire that burned within him. "All Might isn't here . You really think that the Symbol of Peace has the time to be a full-time teacher at U.A.?" He stood up straighter to face the monstrous mist from across the crowd of students. "After all, even if he were here, than what makes you so certain you can put an end to him?"

"My, aren't you argumentative?" the mist crooned. "How interesting… The schedule listed Thirteen here as a Pro, and yet, I don't recognize you. Are you an old face looking to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of heroes?" When Toshinori's reply was a steely stare, the mist chuckled. "Ah, well… Either way, I suppose it doesn't matter… Regardless of whether or not All Might is here, I have a role to play."

Before Toshinori could even think, two forms leaped from the crowd with their fists raised. Terror jumped into Toshinori's throat and he pushed through the crowd to get through just as an explosion went off. Smoke billowed into Toshinori's vision and he coughed as it flooded the remnants of his respiratory system, leaving iron coating the insides of his mouth.

"Did you think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?" taunted Kirishima while Toshinori's ears rang.

As Toshinori recovered, the smoke cleared, and he stared out to spot a flicker of purple peek through the smoke. The mist spread out, dissipating the smoke around the class and revealing its form once again, left unscathed.

"You live up to your school's reputation," the mist stated calmly, causing everyone to tense up collectively, "but you should be more careful, children…" The mist's eyes reformed and narrowed to thin slits. "Otherwise, someone might get hurt ."

"You two, get out of the way, right now!" Thirteen ordered, and it was then that Toshinori saw her hand raised with her cap undone. Knowing what was coming, he swept the students around him to stand behind him, his arms raised to keep them from stepping forward. He had seen firsthand just what Thirteen's Quirk could do that fateful day he saved all those people in that disaster and he didn't want a single one of his kids to be on the receiving end of it.

"Stay ba—" he tried to warn, only to stop dead in his tracks as the mist spread before them all. With wide eyes, he held his arms firm and faced off against the mist. "Don't you come near them!"

"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades—" the mist proclaimed. Tendrils erupted from the mist and made a straight beeline towards the entire class. Toshinori looked to and fro for an escape, but the tendrils blocked all potential routes. "And your deaths! "

Toshinori turned back to the students. " Get out! Get away before it—"

His words were robbed from him blind when the mist wrapped itself around him and he desperately reached out in a vain attempt to find some sort of tether, but it was to no avail. He watched as Iida grabbed Uraraka and Sato, pulling them out of the mist, while Shoji shielded Sero and Ashido as if he were laying on a grenade. One by one, the rest of his students blipped from view, consumed by the mist. He tried to scream out something, anything , but his words fell on deaf ears as he was lifted from where he stood.

'Not them,' he prayed silently, 'please, I beg, don't take them.' His eyes threatened to burn when Midoriya's form faded from his vision. 'It's too soon for him to meet you, Master.'

"I'll find you!" he bellowed above the roaring wind. "Every single one of you!"

Then, Toshinori watched as the world he knew was immersed in darkness.

A/N: Some people while reading: man, I wonder how things will go now that 1-A gets to actually train at the USJ.

Me, sipping my Dr. Pepper: I guess we'll never know. (American Boy starts playing)

OK, but for real, as fun as it would be to explore training at the USJ, I figured I could always do that as a one-off like how the anime did with the OVA. I have some fun ideas for that, but it wouldn't really suit the tone for this upcoming arc. Also, yes, I am aware that this chunk of the story is very similar to canon, but I assure you, you *will* be seeing changes in the coming chapters. Just gotta get to it. So, I hope you enjoy this AU's version of the USJ incident. See you on the other side!